Raised By Wolves
by crazylolli
Summary: There was once a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into, kind of literally, a boy called Tsuna. AU fic. Pairings: 4827/SupaTuna First fanfic attempt! Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Once upon a time there was a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into (kind of literally) a boy called Tsuna. What starts out as a simple thing quickly turns complex when they find neither of them is what they first appear to be. AU fic. Pairings: 4827

Chapter One

"Really, Spanner, I don't have anything new for you," Irie Shoichi said irritably as he typed.

The red head huddled in his messy cubicle, barely finding enough space amid the empty chip bags and soda cans for his computer and a few pictures of his family. Spanner leaned against the cubicle wall, occasionally moving out of the way as other newspaper employees rushed by.

The lollipop in his mouth clicked against his teeth as Spanner shifted slightly, his eyes intent on the side of Shoichi's face. Shoichi refused to give into the pressure, resolutely continuing his typing without looking away. He had a deadline to meet on this article and creepy blondes weren't going to deter him.

"No one but research companies have the parts you're looking for. Even with my contacts, I couldn't get you half the stuff on that list without being a millionare."

Spanner frowned.

"So, no one replied to the ad?" he asked, a note of desperation creeping into his voice.

"Of course not," Irie scoffed. "There isn't anyone who would fund some small town mechanic for the amount you're asking." Spanner sighed and Shoichi glanced over at him, a few lines of concern appearing on his brow. Giving a sigh himself, he swung his chair around to face Spanner completely.

"Look," he said gently. "Maybe this is a good thing. With the money you get working and some spare time, you could find other interests instead of playing around with that 'Mosca.'" Spanner looked away, a discontent look crossing his face. Shoichi leaned forward, concern and annoyance blending in his voice.

"This isn't healthy, Spanner!" he said, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "You spend all day and night cooped up in that shop of yours, tinkering away. If you didn't need to get food once in awhile, you would probably never leave."

"You're the best engineer I know, even out of the ones I went to college with. But the reason they can get grants and do research is because they have the degrees! Since you refuse to go back to school, the only thing left is for you to do is just get on with your life. Find new hobbies, meet new people, do something that doesn't have to do with robots or mechanics!"

"Boring," Spanner interrupted softly, the lollipop clicking against his teeth once again. Irie looked up sharply at Spanner at the comment, frustration taking over.

"Fine," he snapped, turning back to his computer. "But don't expect me to help you on this wild goose chase any longer. You'll have to come to terms with reality sooner or later."

Spanner pushed away from the wall, not saying anything, and entered the flow of traffic towards the elevators. Shoichi surreptitiously watched the lanky figure leave.

"My stomach hurts," he said grimly, rubbing the offending part and turning to rifle through his desk for medicine.

--

Spanner leaned against his car and sulked. The lollipop in his mouth was starting to taste acridly sweet and he almost felt like spitting it out. Even the admiring looks of passers-by, directed at the recently restored second generation Firebird Spanner leaned against, couldn't cheer him up.

He'd found the car about two or three months ago, in such horrible conditions that he'd almost passed it without a thought. But under that rust and dirt, he could see the emblem of a phoenix on the hood, considerably appropriate for the muscle car. And when he looked under the hood, the engine was in better shape then he thought. This was a car that had once been the dream of every man, young and old. It was a car with unlimited potential, though it was a bit out of its element these days. Spanner sensed a kindred spirit. Something told him this car was going to take him places. A lucky charm, if he believed in that sort of thing.

"Not too lucky today…" he mused at it, biting through the last thin layer of candy in his mouth. He kept the stick in his mouth a bit longer, using it as a sort of toothpick, and then spat it out.

Peeling out of the parking garage made him feel a bit better, especially because of the glazed looks that followed the Firebird out. The steering wheel was comfortable in his hands and the engine purred. Now he was feeling much better.

So what if some of Shoichi's advice had hit a bit too close to home? The bit about being too stubborn to finish up his college degree…Well, the college had been stubborn in their own right. Apparently, missing classes for five weeks straight and then acing the final was suspicious behavior to them. But the classes had been so pointless, and he would much rather have been building toaster-television hybrids. And to accuse _him_ of cheating; actually, kicking him out of school was going too far. It also hadn't helped that some of the professors involved in the expulsion process had been shown-up the few times Spanner decided to go to class.

As if that wasn't "reality" enough, Spanner had quickly realized that prospects for a college drop out, even one with his skills, were very limited. Shoichi, a long time family friend, had actually had to step in and arrange the job he had working in a car repair shop. It didn't give him the right to lecture though. Well, at least Spanner didn't think that was how it worked.

Shoichi just didn't understand how close Spanner was. The Mosca was an idea he'd been toying with for some time now, and only this year had things finally started coming together. Even the idea of such a high-performance, high-intelligence and adaptable robot sent chills of excitement down Spanner's spine. Uses of the Mosca would be practically limitless, once it was perfected.

As of now, the prototype was functional, but about a tenth of the size Spanner wanted, coming up to around his knee. Building it on a smaller scale had saved money, and Spanner had still been able to hash out some design ideas and capabilities. It could shoot its hands as small rockets and had a tracking system that rivaled those of NASA. Flight was an option, though Spanner was having some trouble making it work with the parts available to him.

If he just had the funding, the resources he could make something great, something everyone would recognize. A king.

"_There isn't anyone who would fund some small town mechanic_…" The words echoed in his head and he clenched his jaw. Feeling the need to have something in his mouth, he took a hand off the steering wheel to search under his seat for some candy. He felt the edge of a wrapper, but it was a just out of reach. If he could just…

He checked his mirrors and realized he was close to home, an apartment on top of the car repair shop, near the outskirts of the city. There were no other cars on the road, and he would only need a second. Keeping his left hand on the steering wheel, he bent down so that he could reach farther under the seat and was able to grab the lollipop. A small smile on his face, he straightened back up.

The boy on a bicycle in front of him looked up in shock at the approaching car.

"Shit!" Spanner yelled, and swerved. The car jolted and spun, tires screeching on pavement. There was a sickening crunch and Spanner's head slammed against the steering wheel. The world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Once upon a time there was a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into (kind of literally) a boy called Tsuna. What starts out as a simple thing quickly turns complex when they find neither of them is what they first appear to be. AU fic. Pairings: 4827 (SupaTuna)

Chapter Two

Something was jostling Spanner and talking at him. He must still be in bed. Maybe late for work, and Gamma had come up to wake him. He tried to remember what part of the Mosca he'd been working so late on, but for some reason it slipped away from him. His entire head felt like it was stuffed with cotton fibers and he just couldn't get a good grip on any tangible thoughts.

Gamma jostled him again, harder this time and Spanner tried to move to push him off, but he couldn't really seem to move his arms that well. Even opening his eyes was a bit hard, since some sot of liquid had crusted them over. It was probably oil.

"Please wake up!" Gamma was saying, his small hands clutching desperately at him. _Small hands…?_ And since when did Gamma sound like a kid?

The kid on the bicycle.

Fear and pain simultaneously shot through Spanner as he jolted upright, jerking his eyes open through dried blood.

_Oh God, he'd only looked away for a second and the kid had been right there and had he gotten out of the way was he…_

"Are you alright?" a fearful voice next to him said. Spanner turned sharply, another stab of pain coming from his head. The relief almost made him pass out again.

The boy was leaning in through the open driver's seat, sunlight shining through behind him so that his brown hair was closer to golden. For a second, a rather silly second, Spanner thought of angels. Then Spanner's vision cleared and the boy was just normal, a scrape across his cheek but apparently unharmed.

"I-I'm fine," Spanner croaked, then coughed to clear his throat.

"Fine," he repeated, even as the pain settled to a lively tempo in his head.

"I'm so sorry," the kid said, eyes wide and tearing, speaking so rapidly that his tongue tripped over the words. "I didn't see your car coming, so I thought it was okay to cross, and are you really okay?"

"It wasn't your fault," Spanner said, his anxiety matching that of the kid's. "It was mine, really, but what about you? Are you hurt anywhere?" They were both grabbing at each other, trying to check for injuries, both sure the other was dying.

"You're bleeding," the boy said reaching up with tentative fingers to Spanner's forehead. Spanner flinched away slightly, but the boy's fingers were gentle and came away tipped in red.

"A little," Spanner admitted weakly. "But I don't think I have anything worse than a concussion." He tried to move, but the headache made it difficult.

"Can you help me out?" Spanner asked the boy. "I want to see the damage." The boy nodded and maneuvered so that his shoulder supported Spanner. Together, they moved out of the car, slowly walking away from the wreck. Spanner turned to look at his car. It wasn't that bad, if he thought of it in terms of complete Armageddon. Wrapped around the tree trunk the way it was, Spanner was actually more surprised by the fact that he was so lightly hurt. Spanner could no longer decide whether the car was a good-luck charm or not.

Next to the wreck was a pile of twisted metal Spanner vaguely recognized.

"Is that…is that your bicycle?" he asked slowly, peering at it. An uneasy feeling swirled in the back of his mind.

"It looks like I hit it dead on," he realized, looking down to stare at the boy.

"I…I jumped off in time," the boy stuttered, turning away from the wreck. Spanner nodded as if he understood, but the uneasiness didn't go away. He suddenly wished for a lollipop, though he was sure the sugary taste would make him sick at the moment.

"My cell was alright, so I called for help," the boy continued hurriedly, helping Spanner to sit on the ground. "They should be here soon, I think."

As if summoned by the thought, a sleek-looking black car came into sight, cruising to a smooth stop in front of them. The boy stood and moved away as it came to a standstill, Spanner's side suddenly feeling a bit cold from his absence. Almost before the car stopped moving though, one of the occupants slammed out, running at break-neck speed towards them.

All Spanner saw was a flash of silver hair and furious green eyes before he was punched solidly in the face. Lying on his back, Spanner regarded the sky confusedly, wondering why today had been designated "Let's emotionally and physically harm Spanner" day.

"Gokudera!" he heard the boy yell angrily. "Stop that!" Spanner felt the command was a little late.

"Let me at him!" snarled the multiplier of Spanner's pain. "Scum like this guy doesn't deserve to live!"

"I already told you he didn't mean to hit me!" Spanner's savior replied hotly. "Not that he did actually hit me though!"

"At least let me kill him a little bit," the other boy said in what he probably thought was a convincing tone.

"There is no 'little bit!'" Spanner would have voiced his hearty agreement if he was more confident that his jaw wasn't broken. Levering himself up, Spanner found himself directly behind Savior Boy, who was standing with his arms outspread between him and the Punisher.

"Reborn, would you help me calm down Gokudera?" Savior Boy yelled at someone by the car. Spanner had almost missed him with the way his black suit blended with the car. The only spots of color came from his skin, shirt and tie, and a small green lizard riding on the brim of his hat. Even the man's eyes, regarding them with some sort of sadistic amusement, were pitch black.

"Gokudera is only acting the way a proper underling should," the man said nonchalantly, folding his arms and leaning against the car.

"Gokudera isn't my underling!" Savior Boy's tone sounded like he repeated this quite often.

The silver-haired boy, apparently the Gokudera they were referring to, was torn between looking hurt and glaring with murderous rage at Spanner.

"I don't know why you even bothered getting an ambulance for this guy," Gokudera spat out. "Let's get out of here, boss. You shouldn't spend another minute in his hateful company."

"That's right," the man in the fedora agreed. "Your father needs to see you." Spanner could not see his face, but something in the boy's posture told him that he was frowning.

"I should pay," Spanner spoke up, finally. The three of them stared at him.

"For the damage," Spanner clarified. "It's the least I can do, after all this trouble." The man's amused smile widened slightly.

"It looks more like you're the one who's had trouble," he said, Spanner detecting a definite note of condescension. "And after all, we certainly don't need _your_ money." He opened the passenger door.

"Come now, Tsuna," he said imperiously. The boy cast a quick look over his shoulder, then stepped forward. Gokudera fell in behind him, shooting obviously homicidal looks at Spanner all the while. Spanner scrambled up.

"Wait!" he called. The boy paused just before getting in the car. He looked at Spanner with a puzzled expression when Spanner simply stared at him, trying to phrase his words correctly.

"I…I work nearby here, at Gamma's Auto Repair. I'll make you a new bike, so you should come by. Ask for Spanner." The boy stared.

"That's me," Spanner finished weakly. For some reason, his insides were knotted with nerves and tightened the longer the boy went without saying anything.

"Alright!" Spanner's eyes widened at the bright smile. The man in black tipped down his hat, his mouth curling once again to a form halfway between a smirk and a smile. They climbed into the car, Gokudera giving one last glare then slamming his door shut.

The car was gone as quickly as it came. Sitting alone by his wrecked car, Spanner could find no sign that the boy had ever been there, except the tangled remains of a bicycle. Without that, it would have been like the boy had never even existed.

Spanner wondered if the lollipop was still under his car seat.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Once upon a time there was a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into (kind of literally) a boy called Tsuna. What starts out as a simple thing quickly turns complex when they find neither of them is what they first appear to be. AU fic. Pairings: 4827 (SupaTuna)

Shorter chapter this time...got a test to study for. :[

--

Chapter Three

A few weeks later, Spanner still felt like the whole thing had been a dream. The cut on his forehead was healing and his cheek had long ago stopped hurting. Life was and had been back to normal for awhile. All that was left was a wrecked Firebird and a half-completed bicycle.

When Gamma had seen the remains of the car, he'd nearly had a heart attack and immediately fired Spanner. Since this happened more frequently than might be expected, everyone had long ago realized that this was simply Gamma's way of venting. The workers had stood by sympathetically as Gamma practically writhed in pain, unable to look directly either the car or Spanner, though for a second it seemed like he'd take down one of his numerous pool sticks and charge Spanner. He knew the threats (not only aimed at his livelihood, but his person and very soul) were mostly empty, but he still felt bad for putting Gamma through that. Especially when Gamma had also been forced to come pick Spanner up at the hospital by a hysterical Shoichi. Spanner himself had been lectured at furiously by the red-head, feeling more like a child who tripped after being told not to run than a man who got into a car crash.

But now Gamma had moved on to being angry at someone else, and Shoichi was back to being slightly less irritable. Even the other mechanics, who held onto bad jokes for what seemed like ages ("Hey, Spanner, too bad you can't fix those driving skills!," etc., etc.), had puttered out. It was business like usual.

And it was starting to trouble Spanner.

He really had no clue why this was so important to him. Even when focusing on the Mosca, making what adjustments he could, his mind would sometimes drift to the half-finished bike stowed in the corner of the repair shop.

Spanner certainly could have built the bike by now, but when a week had passed and the boy still hadn't shown up, he just couldn't bring himself to. Gamma had asked him about it one day, and Spanner hadn't known how to explain. How were you supposed to tell your boss that a finished bike would look lonely without him accusing you of all sorts of mental weakness?

The boy (_Tsuna_, Spanner mentally corrected himself) was probably never coming. Even if he did, he might bring that silver-haired one, Doku-something, and Spanner would probably end up getting punched again. So, it was a good thing. Really.

He chomped down hard on his lollipop.

He yelped as it splintered and cut the inside of his mouth. The Mosca turned to look at him from where it stood by the door, searching for threats. Spanner got up from his desk and spat the remaining fragments into the trash, seeing his saliva tinged in red as he did. The schematics on his desk were spread out, and slightly crumpled from age and use. They were old designs for a larger version of Mosca, something he'd taken out again and again, as if keeping it fresh in his mind would make the money he needed come faster. But today, as had been the case for the last few weeks, Spanner had been distracted.

Standing and staring at the papers, pressing his tongue to the cut to stop the trickle of blood, Spanner pondered humanity.

He considered himself a level-headed person. Someone (probably Shoichi) had called him socially awkward and obsessive, but Spanner thought that he understood boundaries. Of course, being constantly around machines that didn't care how long you stared at them or how close you got did keep him a bit out of practice as to normal behavior. Machines were useful, understandable, and didn't squirm when you wanted to check how they worked. The fact was, Spanner preferred machines to humans for the simple reason that machines didn't expect anything of you. They didn't push you to go out, find a girlfriend, get a life. They asked for nothing and when they received, they repaid immediately with improved performance, or some other desired outcome.

Humans were much more fickle and selfish. They rarely showed genuine gratitude. They gave promises and spoke fancy words and said they would come visit the shop but it was all lies. So, Spanner was right in being "obsessive" over robots.

So, why did this boy (_Tsuna)_ matter?

Spanner started as the Mosca moved next to him. It reached up, it's fingertips suddenly replaced with a rainbow of lollipop flavors. Spanner sighed, but smiled a bit. Taking a banana-flavored one, he decided to take a break.

"Watch my stuff," he told the Mosca, heading out the door. It turned and stood in the center of the room, settling into a guard stance. Spanner grinned at it before heading downstairs to the shop.

He would finish the bike today. Finish it, polish it, and tell Gamma to find some buyer for it. Then, this dream would really be over, and Spanner would be able to focus again.

The bright afternoon sun lit up the garage through its wide, open doors. The floor was deserted, the workers probably on a break. Lucky for Spanner, since he didn't want them pestering him while he worked on the bicycle. He strode towards the corner and began to lift the tarp that covered the bike, about to sweep it off.

A familiarly hesitant voice spoke up from behind Spanner. "Is that my bike?"

He froze.

Turning slowly, and the boy stood behind him, bathed in light just like the first time he'd seen him. And for the first time since the accident, Spanner felt like he was really awake.

In his mouth, there was the taste of copper and sugar.


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Once upon a time there was a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into (kind of literally) a boy called Tsuna. What starts out as a simple thing quickly turns complex when they find neither of them is what they first appear to be. AU fic. Pairings: 4827

Thank you guys for all the wonderful reviews so far! I'll try hard to keep going, fight on, and all that!

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Chapter Four

Spanner had no idea what to do.

As Tsuna fidgeted across from him, a mug of green tea held in his hands, Spanner tried to remember the advice Shoichi had often thrown at him.

1) Be friendly: Spanner had greeted the boy and offered him tea.

2) Be cleanly: Spanner had realized after his invitation that not only was his bed unmade and his floor covered in trash and schematics, but the Mosca was still wandering around. Which conflicted directly with rule

3) DON'T SHOW ANYONE THAT CREEPY ROBOT.

He'd instructed Tsuna to stay, and ambled over to the stairs. Out of sight, he had leapt up them, his mind delving for topics of conversation teenagers liked. What did they talk about? Clothes? School? Music? But his concept of clothing extended to shirts, jeans and the overalls he wore for work. He was a college dropout. He hadn't listened to music recreationally…ever.

As he stuffed papers and trash alike into his closet and under his bed, he reflected bitterly on his earlier melancholy. What had he been thinking, _of course_ it would have been better if Tsuna had never come. Who cares if a bike looked lonely, of all things? Machines didn't have feelings! (At work, Shoichi felt the odd sensation of being vindicated for no reason.) Not having feelings would be an amazing thing; he wouldn't have to be doing this stupid last-minute cleaning and damn it, where was he going to hide the Mosca?!?

He scanned the room and the Mosca imitated him. No more space in the closet. It was too big to fit under the bed.

He spotted the door leading to the small bathroom that adjoined with the room.

Good enough for now.

"Get in there," Spanner whispered at the Mosca, even though the boy was well out of hearing range. The robot looked at him. If Spanner wasn't sure he hadn't programmed it to have feelings, he would have sworn it looked skeptical. Like it was saying "Are you kidding me?"

Tired of its non-existent sass, Spanner pushed it in himself, quite a feat since it weighed about the same as he did. He closed the bathroom door and took a last look at the room. It looked normal-ish. Maybe a little heavy on the tool and computer side with some bed and desk visible, but nothing that screamed "Introverted obsessive mecha-freak."

Tsuna was still standing where he had left him, confusion clear on his face. He looked up at Spanner.

"Uh…yeah, I'd like tea," he said. And so he sat on the bed, looking uncomfortable while Spanner fidgeted with the brewer.

Spanner poured the tea into a second mug for himself. "Your bike isn't completed yet," he said, sliding a glance over at the boy. "Sorry you came all this way for nothing."

"No, it's alright," said Tsuna. "From what I saw, it looked very nice, Mr. Spanner." The mechanic jolted at his name. He swirled the lollipop in his mouth in consternation - no one had ever called him a "mister" before. The boy continued to speak, a nervous lilt pitching his voice a bit.

"It's been a bit busy at home, so I haven't really had time to go out. Reborn doesn't like me to leave the house by myself, or even at all…I kind of had to sneak out to get here." Spanner looked down at the thick, aromatic liquid in his mug. So, coming here was that important.

"You can call me Spanner," he said around his lollipop. Tsuna looked up with a horrified expression and Spanner immediately berated himself for taking liberties.

The boy jumped up and flushed. "Oh my God, I didn't even introduce myself!" he exclaimed. "I'm Tsuna – err, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Glad the faux pas wasn't on his part, Spanner began to nod but stopped in panic when he realized Tsuna was walking over in an attempt to shake his hand.

It was like watching a catastrophe in slow motion. Spanner was caught between setting down his tea and taking off his gloves. Tsuna, seeing his dilemma, began to slow down and ended up tripping, his cup still in his hands. Spanner reached out to catch the boy, reacting before he thought it through. He managed to grab the boy before he fell, but in the process spilled both his and Tsuna's tea over them both.

They stayed in shocked silence for a few moments, warm tea soaking through the fabric of their clothing. Spanner had the vague thought that Tsuna was actually a bit heavier than what he would have expected from such a waiflike frame. The boy was solid, and comfortable, and disturbingly familiar to Spanner's hands.

The boy scrambled away, panic and embarrassment driving a red flush across his cheeks. Spanner stared up at him, his hands clutching at the air where soft flesh had once been. Tsuna's hands flew up to his head, pulling at his spiky brown hair.

"Argh! That was so dumb!" It was Spanner's turn to be a bit dumbfounded as the boy flailed around, making his hair even messier and little drops of tea splash around. "Jeez, this always happens!"

Spanner blinked in response.

"First, you get into a freaking _car_ accident and then you're nice enough to fix my bike and get me tea and now I spill it all over!" The boy collapsed to the ground, holding his head in his hands.

"I'm really sorry," croaked Tsuna. Spanner stared.

This kid was…

"So cute," muttered Spanner, dropping his own face into his hand.

"What?" said the boy, peeking up.

Spanner reached out his other hand to ruffle Tsuna's hair, partly to comfort him and partly so he wouldn't be able to see his expression, replying with a louder "Nothing."

"There're some towels in the bathroom," Spanner continued. "Go ahead and get them so you can dry off." Tsuna nodded, his cheeks still red, and got up from the floor. When he turned away, Spanner tried desperately to school his expression, sure the broad smile on his face would scare Tsuna.

Then he realized what he had done.

"WAIT!" he yelled, jumping up to grab Tsuna, but the boy had already opened the door. Together they stared at the Mosca, who looked inquisitively from Tsuna to Spanner to back again. Tsuna closed the door, took several steps back and turned to crouch in front of Spanner.

His voice was shaking even though his face was carefully blank. "Mr. Spanner, I think there's a robot in your bathroom."

Shoichi would be so disappointed.


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Once upon a time there was a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into (kind of literally) a boy called Tsuna. What starts out as a simple thing quickly turns complex when they find neither of them is what they first appear to be. AU fic. Pairings: 4827

Longer chapter, yaaay! And, um, fanservice? IDK.

* * *

Chapter Five

Spanner was wet and panicking.

The decision to bring the Mosca out of the bathroom had not been a good one. His thought process would have to be reevaluated at some time in the near future. As for now, Tsuna was huddling near the tea brewer on the opposite side of the room, as far away from the robot as he could get. After the initial shock, he had quickly deteriorated into silent terror, actually turning a bit ashen. Spanner, meanwhile, was trying to explain and knew he was doing a horrible job of it

"Well, yes, it is a robot, but it won't kill you. I mean, it could _maybe_ kill you, but I didn't program it to. And it wouldn't kill just you, if it were programmed to kill. Not that it is."

Tsuna seemed to be slipping into some kind of fear-induced coma. Spanner was grasping at straws.

"It makes lollipops!" he finally burst out, grabbing the Mosca's hand and waving it around. It seemed confused at first, but then the rainbow of sweets popped out. Tsuna hiccupped in surprise and focused in on the lollipops. Slowly, his dilated pupils returned to normal and he relaxed a bit.

"That's a bit odd for a robot to do," Tsuna observed finally.

Spanner sighed in relief, glad the boy was at least talking now instead of gibbering in fear. "I like making new flavors," he explained, trying to keep his voice calm and soothing, "though I do like some of the traditional ones too."

"Like, he red ones, which are strawberry, but the green are honeydew, yellow is for bananas, um…" He trailed off, watching Tsuna cautiously crawl towards the Mosca. He stopped to sit cross-legged directly in front of the robot. Spanner let go of the robot and stepped back, thinking maybe they needed their space, to get acquainted. He felt like he was some sort of zookeeper, introducing two different breeds of animals to each other. He had an absurd vision of himself in khakis and decided the simile was somewhat lacking.

Tsuna reached out and slowly took a blue lollipop. He held it up at Spanner.

"What's this?" Spanner jostled the lollipop in his mouth, thinking for a second about the taste on his tongue that had been briefly forgotten.

"Cotton candy," he decided.

Tsuna nodded with a small "I see." He stared down at the lollipop. "It's also got a weird shape," he continued, feeling it through the wrapper.

"I designed them like that. Would you like to try it?" Tsuna looked up at Spanner, then down at the lollipop again. He hastily held it out to the robot, shaking his head no. Mosca shifted. It had never had to take a lollipop back before. Spanner relieved its dilemma by taking the sweet himself and slipping it into his pocket. He left his hand in there as well, his grip tight. The boy's hand had still been trembling.

"They get replaced automatically." Spanner indicated this to the boy, who looked at the once-again complete rainbow. Tsuna stayed silent this time, staring at the Mosca.

"I can put him away, if he disturbs -" Spanner began, but Tsuna cut him off.

"No, it's fine really." He finally looked away from the Mosca, now choosing to gaze up at Spanner. "It's just that this whole thing is so surreal. I mean, a robot? I thought you only worked on cars and bikes and stuff."

"Well…" Spanner trailed off again, trying to choose his words carefully. Seeing how Tsuna had reacted to a smaller-scaled version of Mosca, he didn't think it was a good idea to mention that he was trying to make a bigger one. He felt it would be best to adapt Shoichi's third rule to saying as little as possible about the robot.

"It's just an interest of mine," was what finally he decided on, and hoped Tsuna would leave it at that.

"I can show you how it works," he offered, in an attempt to distract the boy. He reached out and pressed a button on the side of the Mosca. Its stomach swung forward like a panel, revealing a hollow interior with machinery clicking and whirring around it. Mosca tried to look down, struggling to see what had happened.

"Woah!" exclaimed Tsuna, leaning forward. He reached out then stopped, looking at Spanner hesitantly.

"Is it alright if I touch it?" he asked uncertainly. Spanner's mouth curved in a smile, pleased at Tsuna's curiosity.

"Sure," he said. "Just don't get a finger caught in any of the gears. I'd hate to have to take Mosca apart." The robot's head swung up and it stared at Spanner in what was probably horror.

Spanner retreated to the bathroom as Tsuna began to poke around. He collapsed against the wall, unsurprised by the fact that his knees weren't quite steady.

In one of his few experiences at college, he had been dragged to a frat party by a particularly persistent classmate. Spanner couldn't quite recall what had led up to it (though he did blame the fact that no one had ever warned him that Jungle Juice was _not_ a simple fruit drink as he had been led to believe), but he had awoken from his drunken stupor standing on the middle of a tight rope spanning between the roofs of two dorms. Needless to say, being drunk, disoriented and scared as hell, he had instantly taken a header off the side. Luckily, it had been straight into a giant vat of applesauce that had apparently been part of the earlier festivities, so he hadn't been grievously harmed. But, Spanner never did like the smell of apples after that.

That fall had been the most frightening experience of his life. Until exactly ten minutes ago.

Who knew hysterical teens could be so terrifying?

He wiped the sweat off his brow and took a couple deep breaths. Then he straightened, grabbed a towel off the rack and walked out. Tsuna practically had his whole head inside the Mosca now, which had seemed kind of impossible due to the particularly bushy nature of his hair. Spanner paused. Minutes ago, that kid wouldn't have come near Mosca with a ten-foot pole, but now he was cheerfully going over every last detail. The fickleness of humanity, indeed.

"That's its name?" asked Tsuna, his voice echoing slightly from the inside of the robot. "Mosca?"

As he mentally kicked himself, Spanner replied "Ah, right." Hadn't he _just_ said no more information about the Creepy Robot?!

Tsuna's head popped out and the Mosca immediately slammed its stomach door shut. Spanner blinked at it and it dead-panned right back. Spanner wondered if it had maybe felt violated.

"Here," said Spanner, dropping the towel directly over Tsuna's head, "you're still kind of wet." Tsuna looked up in surprise from under the towel, then grinned sheepishly.

"I kind of forgot," the boy said, slowly beginning to towel himself off. "I guess I was pretty scared at first about M-Mosca, but, come on, it's a robot! I've only ever seen them on TV. I only ever get to see the little gadgets Giannini makes and Colonello and Reborn keep everything else a secret. They keep saying the less I know the better. But, oh man, Yamamoto would be psyched to see this! And Dino, he always liked scifi stuff."

Spanner was listening with only half an ear, and that ended too as Tsuna continued to rattle off names that Spanner barely registered. In fact, words in general had seemed to fade into some kind of background ambiance. Even with the lollipop, his mouth was suddenly dry.

This wasn't right or fair or particularly decent. Since when had the action of drying off been so…captivating? Spanner couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the pale, wet skin, turning slightly red after being scrubbed by the cloth. And his clothes…were shirts these days all so thin? Another concept from college he had never gotten was wet t-shirt contests. The appeal suddenly made sense.

His hands were itching for some reason and he remembered that earlier weight from Tsuna's body in his hands, against his chest. He swallowed and ended up almost swallowing the lollipop, stick and all.

The boy looked up at him with those huge brown eyes, cheerful and unguarded.

"So, what do you think, Mr. Spanner?"

"Just Spanner," the mechanic automatically corrected before realizing he'd been asked a question. He fumbled.

"Um, sorry, what were you -" He was interrupted by Gamma's furious yell from downstairs.

"Spanner, you mecha-freak, who the hell gave you permission to take the whole afternoon off?! I have customers waiting here for cars that were supposed to be fixed hours ago! If you don't get down here, you're fired!" Spanner and Tsuna both jumped. Spanner, knowing Gamma would come up if he didn't reply, ran to the door.

"I'll be right down," he called back, poking his head out. Gamma stood at the base of the stairs glaring up, the pool stick in his hand tapping in an aggravated fashion against the rail. He pointed it at Spanner.

"I'm serious this time, Mr. Genius. If you aren't down here in five minutes tops, I am kicking you to the curb." He thrust the stick for emphasis before turning on his heel, muttering under his breath. Spanner shook his head before pulling it back inside. Tsuna was standing, looking worried.

He was twisting the towel in his hand. "I'd better go," he said. "You'll get in trouble if you don't get back to work."

"Don't worry about that," Spanner said. "He won't actually fire me."

"He sounded serious though!" Tsuna protested, his brow furrowing even more. Spanner realized he was smiling again.

"It'll be fine. But how are you getting home? I can give you a ride, if -"

"NO!" Spanner blinked at the outburst. Tsuna flushed.

"I-It's too much of a hassle for you," Tsuna said quickly. "I'll just take the bus back." The lollipop in Spanner's mouth crunched to an end. He took out the stick and twirled it in between his fingers, no longer smiling.

"Well, if you're sure," he began reluctantly, "at least take a jacket or something. Your shirt is still pretty wet." When Tsuna agreed, he headed quickly to his closet. Upon opening it, he found himself looking into a garbage dump condensed into a 4x4x7 foot closet. He quickly shut the closet door.

"This one's clean," he said, snatching his jacket off the bed post and handing it to Tsuna. Spanner led the way downstairs, keeping an eye out for Gamma or other employees. He led Tsuna out the back to an alleyway that led to the street.

Tsuna pulled on the jacket out there, and even when he rolled up the sleeves, it still engulfed his hands. They stood awkwardly in the alley, not sure what to say. Spanner thrust his hands into his pockets and Tsuna tried to roll up his sleeves more.

"Bye then," Tsuna finally said, turning to leave. Spanner thrust out his hand, the lollipop Tsuna had chosen earlier sticking out from his fist.

"Here," Spanner said shortly. Tsuna grinned and took the sweet.

"You know," Spanner went on, not quite looking at the boy. "You could come back tomorrow, or whenever, to return the jacket. And uh…maybe you'd like to help put your bike together. Or something. If you wanted." Tsuna looked up, his grin going wider.

"I definitely will!"

Spanner watched Tsuna disappear around the corner, his hand hanging by his side. _This isn't going to end well_, he thought to himself as his heart continued to do ecstatic leaps in his chest.

_Not well at all._


	6. Chapter 6

It's a chapter from Gamma's POV! I love Gamma…

Oh yeah, I'm in a bit of a bind here. They never mention Uni's mom's name, do they? I mean…what do I call her? It's confusing. In this, Uni is around ten, probably younger than her current version in the manga. Oh yeah, and Tsuna should be sixteen or seventeen. Spanner and Gamma should be the same age as in the manga too.

Will continue working hard, thank you all for the wonderful reviews!!

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Chapter Six

There were always days that started out bad. An optimist would say that it could only get better from there, but Gamma was no optimist. He had a sort of intuition about these things, a feeling in his gut that always acted up the same day a particularly difficult customer came in or something expensive broke.

In the dim light of dawn, Gamma sat up on the edge of his bed with that exact feeling. He felt his eyebrows pinch and wondered if that saying, the one about frowning so much your face sticks like that forever, was true.

As was his routine, he blinked at the painting on his wall until it stopped being blurry. It was an old painting, something of his late wife's. When she was still alive, he'd considered it beautiful, full of vibrant green and bright orange flowers and a brown, distinguished looking mansion in the background. She had told him it was her family's home back in Italy, and he had dismissed the sadness in her eyes when she looked at it because the rest of the time she was so happy. He had dismissed the curdling, uneasy feeling as well.

He had learned his lesson, and now he only looked at the painting when he woke up or went to bed. A reminder, of sorts, that the bad days never got better, and that they could definitely get worse.

The phone rang, abruptly ending his melancholic mood. He lurched for it, grabbing it off the stand next to his bed before it could ring again. He pressed it to his ear, cupping his hand around the bottom half .

"Who is it?" he whispered, trying to be both irritated and quiet. And there came the start of the bad day. His baby-sitter couldn't come in today. He heaved a sigh and steeled his nerves.

"Uni!" he bellowed out into the hall. "Get up, you're coming with Daddy to work today!"

"NOOOOO!" his daughter wailed back from her room. Gamma slammed his door in response.

A quick shower, shave, and change of clothing later Gamma hopped out of his room, still pulling on one sock. He rapped on Uni's door as he passed. He heard something hit the door from the other side and assumed it was her pillow.

The apartment kitchen was spacious and well-stocked. Gamma would have shot himself in the leg before admitting that he was actually getting to be pretty proficient at domestic stuff. With only himself, an impulsive auto mechanic, and a young daughter, he'd had to learn to cook and do laundry or go to his family for help. He refused to consider the latter option, so here he was, making eggs and toast at six A.M. He thought that maybe he'd have to go knock on her door again, but the smell of breakfast finally dragged Uni out.

Like it always did when he saw her, Gamma's heart felt like it was being squeezed in some sort of vice. It was so odd, to look at his daughter and see a younger version of his wife, exact down to the flower-shaped birthmark on her cheek. It was getting to be a problem for Gamma, because he could no longer quite look at her when she smiled. The grumpy frown currently directed at him was just fine though; that look was all from him.

She sat down at the table, and Gamma grinned a bit when he could still feel her glare drilling into his back as he plated the eggs.

An equally grumpy "Dad," was shot at him. His smile turned into a wince. She always called him "Dad" when she was angry, rather than her usual "Daddy."

"I'm not a baby anymore, you know?" He made a noncommittal sound and dropped her breakfast plate in front of her before sitting down to his own.

"I can stay home alone, I'm old enough now." He didn't respond again, forking up some eggs and flipping open the paper. A glance upward showed Uni's bottom lip beginning to jut out. She was breaking out the big guns.

"It's not fair!" she burst out, slapping down her fork. "All my friends at school get to do whatever they want over summer vacation! They go to the park and the beach and watch TV all day, and they don't have a stupid babysitter!"

"Mind your language, young lady," he remarked absently at her, waggling his fork.

"Can't I stay home? I promise I won't do anything bad, I'll just sit here, right here."

"All day, and you'll just sit there?" Gamma pretended to consider it.

"Nope." Uni made the same garbled, frustrated sound he did when he was dealing with annoying customers. He glanced at her again and felt a pang of horror at the glitter of tears in her eyes.

He prayed to God that she wouldn't cry. Crying was the worst thing ever for a father's heart.

She didn't cry in the end, but the threatening gleam in her eye did not go away. She stabbed at her eggs.

"I hate you, Daddy," she grumbled at them.

Now Gamma was going to cry.

The rest of breakfast was conducted in silence and at six forty promptly, Gamma hustled Uni into the car. She had brought her iPod and was determinedly looking out the window, trying to pretend Gamma didn't exist.

_It's alright_, he told himself, nodding in thanks to a car that let him merge into the highway. _You just ruined your entire relationship with your daughter because you're too nervous to leave her alone. It's understandable, but you're probably going to hell_.

He pulled into the parking lot behind the repair shop and saw a familiar blond head (with the ridiculous curly thing that made Gamma's eye twitch) popping out from a window of the apartment above the shop. Spanner seemed to be fanning something out, a sheet or something, but it looked kind of…charred. Gamma got out of the car, the bad feeling back, and prepared to yell at the fellow mechanic when an idea hit him. He looked back at Uni, who was staring up curiously at Spanner as well. Before he could yell at Spanner to get down, a few of the other workers arrived.

"It's Miss Princess!" grinned the big, black mechanic Tazaru, scooping Uni up in his arms and throwing her in the air. Gamma felt his heart freeze as she gave a little scream, but relaxed when she fell laughing back into Tazaru's arms. The man's constant tag-along, a long-haired punk called Nosaru bounded up from behind, and playfully punched Tazaru in the arm.

"Look out, bro," he laughed, pointing at Gamma. "You hurt Princess and the boss'll fire you."

"That's right, you punks," growled Gamma, grabbing Uni and putting her on the ground. "But since you're not fired yet, don't you have some cars to be working on?" They laughed it off and headed into the shop, the rest of the employees showing up behind them. Gamma sniffed the air and thought it smelled a bit smokier than usual.

Uni, put back into a good mood, chatted comfortably with coarse grease-monkeys as easily as if she were among schoolmates. Gamma often wondered if he was ruining her childhood and what his wife would think if she knew their daughter spent more time surrounded by cars than dolls.

Gamma went to the base of the stairs that led to Spanner's apartment and realized the smoky smell was getting distinctly stronger. His gut was practically yodeling bad news at him.

"Spanner!" he yelled up the stairs. There was no response.

Gamma tried again. "Mecha-freak!"

Still nothing.

He walked up the stairs and the air was actually getting hazy with smoke. Gamma slammed into Spanner's room.

"Spanner, what the hell - " Gamma found himself in the middle of what could only be described as a war zone. Debris was spilling out of the closet in what looked like something of an avalanche, parts of some machine, a bike probably, were scattered around the floor like bullet shells. And burn marks radiated from the stove top of an oven that had not been in the apartment the last time Gamma had checked.

"What the hell happened?" Gamma finished finally, more in awe than anger anymore. Spanner peeked out from the bathroom, the sheet Gamma had seen him with earlier now soaking.

The blond mechanic seemed to think about this, his ever present lollipop flicking from side to side.

"I was making breakfast," Spanner began in way of explanation. "I think I used to much oil. And then my bed caught on fire."

"But it's on the other side of the room," Gamma pointed out, in what he thought was a very controlled, reasonable tone. Spanner shrugged and held up the sheet.

"It's still smoldering a bit, so I thought I'd use this to put out the embers." Gamma put his hand on his forehead, trying to block the horrific view. His shoulders sagged in defeat.

"You do that, Spanner. And once you're done, although I am seriously doubting my sanity at this point, you are going to be entertaining my daughter for the day." Spanner looked a bit put out.

"But, today I - " He immediately shut his mouth at the blazing glare Gamma threw at him.

"Consider this a _very_ small beginning to the punishment you will be getting," Gamma hissed. He turned and spotted a robot standing behind the door.

"What…?"

"It's hiding," said Spanner simply, beginning to squeeze the water out onto his mattress. Gamma resolved to keep his mouth shut and strode out.

His gut was never wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay on the new chapter, I was on vacation and no internet, and then the whole getting ready for college. Urgh. Anyway, so I'm here now, in college, and updating might become a bit...scarcer. 'Cause of my new schedule and all. Yuck, school, right?

Yeah, so no Tsuna-Spanner interaction in this one...it's replaced with 8059! My second most favorite couple, if you can't tell. But Tsuna will be in the next chapter. They'll be doin' stuff. As always, thanks for all the support!

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Chapter Seven

After Tsuna had left, Spanner definitely hadn't been at his most…focused. Working that afternoon hadn't gone as smoothly as it might have. When repairing one car, he realized he had been working a full hour on the carburetor when all it had needed was a new break light put in. For another, he had taken out almost the entire engine looking for a problem before someone pointed out that it merely had a flat tire. To say the least, the end of the day hadn't come soon enough.

It wasn't like he was thinking of anything (anyone) in particular. Well, he was trying not to, and no one really seemed to notice anyway. Little did Spanner know that most of the workers did, in fact, notice this preoccupation, but just chose to make no mention of it. They had learned a while ago that asking questions of the mechanic didn't always result in answers that they wanted to hear. It was an unconfirmed rumor that he had a robot army in his room upstairs. The grim look of Gamma's face when they asked and the blank one on Spanner's did little to assuage or confirm their suspicions. So, they kept silent and left at the end of shift hoping that whatever it was, Spanner would snap out of it soon.

It was almost fully dark by the time Gamma, always the last to leave, drove off, and outside the street lamps lit up orange circles of street and sidewalk. Spanner began his nightly round of the shop, checking the door and entrances. With only the echoing of his footsteps for company, Spanner was assaulted by the quiet, no whirring of power tools or friendly banter from the workers to distract him.

He was displaying some worrying symptoms that needed to be addressed. The palpitating heart, unsteady gut, and certain base impulses were popping up at an alarming rate. And it was all over a boy at least ten years younger than he was.

Spanner's hand fumbled on the lock to one of the garage doors. Putting it like that made it seem much more suspicious than Spanner intended. There was an interest, to be sure, but why did it have to be degraded to something a little less than moral? Why couldn't this just be nervousness over interacting with someone younger, or just interacting with someone at all? Shoichi said he was socially inept, and he only ever really talked to people on a professional basis. With Tsuna, it was more of a personal thing, but still completely innocent. It was a perfectly natural, human urge to get closer to people. He was just doing a favor, and hadn't Shoichi said he should meet new people, get to know them?

Still, Spanner had the feeling Shoichi wouldn't be all that approving, and he knew he was just circling around the most obvious answer.

"Ridiculous," Spanner told the securely locked and definitely empty garage.

He unwrapped a lollipop and stuffed it into his mouth. He'd let this issue drop for now. After all, he had other things to do.

The bike was where he had left it, in a corner of the shop and still covered by the tarp. He drew off the cloth and surveyed the machine. He had most of the frame finished and it would really only take a few days to finish it up. All he needed was the handlebars, the tires and all the connecting bits. He planned to reinforce the structure somewhat as well. The delicate state it was in now made him uneasy and his hand drifted to his forehead, tracing a cut that was no longer there.

Yes, it would be finished quickly, but he needed the right parts. A mechanic shop that specialized in cars didn't have much bicycle equipment lying around. And if Spanner wanted this bike to be safe as well as usable, he'd need to order some parts. He wondered how many blood vessels Gamma would blow when he got the bill for this month and realized he'd inadvertently spent about a hundred dollars in bicycle parts.

Spanner did have enough for a good start though, if he could find them. His gaze trailed over to the staircase that led to his room. Everything he'd scrounged up nearly a month ago when he'd first started working on the bike, as well as the parts he'd salvaged from the original wreck, was now stuffed into a closet literally bursting with junk or under his bed. It seemed some cleaning was in order.

He paused when he heard a loud noise from outside. He strode over to one of the small windows in the garage door and peered out. The light from the streetlamps was too far from the parking lot to show anything. Spanner kept watch a few moments more, but when nothing moved and no more noises sounded, he drew away.

_Probably raccoons_, he assumed, heading upstairs to his room. With the shop secure for the night, even the most intrepid pests wouldn't be able to get in.

--

Once Public Enemy #1 had moved from the window, Gokudera turned and swiped at Yamamoto, saying "You idiot! Why the hell did you bring that stupid bat anyway?!" Yamamoto dodged the fist, picking up the metal bat he had dropped earlier.

"Sorry," he apologized, grinning sheepishly. "It slipped out of my hands. But the guard didn't see us, right?"

"That's not the point," Gokudera hissed, now more annoyed that the baseball freak had managed to avoid his punch. "And that wasn't the guard, it was our target. Can you remember anything but hitting a ball?" Yamamoto shrugged cheerfully. Gokudera glared.

He still didn't understand why he had to bring along this idiot. When Reborn had said he had a mission for Gokudera, it had been like the older man was finally acknowledging him. And then he'd been saddled with Yamamoto Takeshi, a baseball-loving moron whose only real asset was a passably decent physique. How he had been accepted to the Vongola Corporation's Youth Program was beyond Gokudera. Still, he'd accepted the condition without a word, because, really, complaining to Reborn was essentially the same as begging for added pain. Baby-sitting Yamamoto was punishment enough.

But he had a mission to complete, one he had a personal interest in, so there was no time to be unprofessional.

He elbowed Yamamoto to the side and peered at the seemingly normal mechanic shop through the night vision goggles he had pulled from his backpack.

"Woah, cool!" piped up Yamamoto, leaning into Gokudera's line of sight. Gokudera shushed him and pushed him viciously to the side.

"Why didn't I get a pair?" Yamamoto continued, rubbing the spot on his chest where the silver-haired boy had pushed him.

"You did," replied Gokudera stiffly, still surveying the building. "I _forgot_ them."

Yamamoto reached out, saying "Let me use yours then," but Gokudera smacked his hand away. He pulled them down and turned to Yamamoto.

"Would you shut up, already? I'm trying to gather data on the target!" Yamamoto subsided with a slight frown and Gokudera put the goggles back on. Crouching, he passed the bat from hand to hand, looking from the street, to Gokudera, and then up at the mechanic shop. The bottom level was completely dark, but on the second level a light shone out from several windows. Yamamoto leaned forward again.

"I think he's on the second floor," he whispered. Gokudera jolted and clapped a hand to his ear. He scowled back at Yamamoto.

"Don't talk in my ear!" he snapped. "And of course he's up there. I need to check the area for guards or traps first before we can get any closer though." Yamamoto nodded in understanding.

He looked at the building once again, and said, his tone slightly confused, "Why exactly are you checking for traps? I mean, it's a mechanic shop. It's not an enemy base or anything."

"You don't know that!" Gokudera said, tearing off the goggles and throwing them into his bag. "We need to treat this as hostile territory and take all precautions."

"But Reborn just said to find out more about this Spanner guy," Yamamoto argued, frowning again. "And he didn't say anything about going at night or 'taking precautions.' I don't think he's _that_ dangerous. You're taking this too seriously!"

"And you think it's a game!" Gokudera burst out. "He ran over the boss!" The last statement translated roughly into "He is the Son of Darkness and must be banished to the Hell he spawned from."

"I heard he didn't even hit Tsuna!"

Spanner's head appeared at his window. Together, the two boys dived into the bushes, realizing they'd nearly been shouting. Spanner stayed at his window a few moments, obviously searching for the source of whatever noise he had heard. Slowly, he withdrew and Gokudera poked his head up.

"He's gone," he whispered down to Yamamoto. They sat in the bushes, Gokudera's expression mulish and Yamamoto's aggravated.

"You've got leaves in your hair," Gokudera told Yamamoto in a tone that indicated his wish that the herbs were poisonous.

"So do you," Yamamoto replied. Gokudera instantly reached up and began to meticulously pick the leaves from his hair. Yamamoto ran his hand through his hair once and figured that was good enough. To say the silence was awkward was like saying the North Pole was slightly chilly.

Gokudera stood, snapping a brief "C'mon," before heading toward the shop. Yamamoto scrambled up and followed, imitating Gokudera's zig-zagging path. They pressed up against the side of a building directly under one of the windows.

"There's a drain pipe right next to you, right?" Gokudera said quietly. Yamamoto looked to the side, spotting the pipe. He turned back and nodded.

"Do you think you can climb up that?" Yamamoto looked at it again. He rolled his shoulders in anticipation.

"I think I could manage it," he replied, a cocky smile already forming on his face. Gokudera rolled his eyes. _Jocks_.

Gaining a solid hold on the pipe, Yamamoto placed a foot against the wall and pulled himself up. When the pipe creaked audibly he froze. Gokudera looked anxiously up at the window. When no one appeared, Gokudera nodded at Yamamoto. Continuing up, Yamamoto tried to make as little noise as possible, moving quickly even as the muscles in his back and arms strained. He made it to the window, but could only see slightly into it without feeling his hold on the pipe begin to slip.

"What's he doing?" Gokudera softly called up. Yamamoto stayed silent for a few minutes, peering into the bright room with squinted eyes.

"I think he's….cleaning." Gokudera scowled at the note of amusement he could hear in the other boy's voice.

"All he's doing is going through stuff from his closet." He paused and leaned in a bit more. "Wait a minute, there's someone el-"

Yamamoto went suddenly quiet.

"What is it?" Gokudera whispered, a thrill of nerves running up his spine. Yamamoto said something indistinct.

"What?" demanded Gokudera again. The other boy suddenly came sliding down the pipe.

"It saw me!" he whispered at Gokudera as he hit the ground. Gokudera panicked. The bushes were too far for them to get to. They were trapped in the open. He'd have to blow up the shop.

But before he could reach for the dynamite always kept on his person, Gokudera was grabbed by the collar and pulled away from the wall. He was slammed into a small alcove formed by an entranceway he had missed. Yamamoto pressed against him, squeezing into the small refuge. Tense, they held their breath.

Above them, the window opened with a clatter.

"What did you see?" they heard a male voice asking someone else. There was no reply.

"Not sure, huh?" came the voice again, as if responding to an answer. "Don't worry, it was probably raccoons. They were making a fuss earlier."

The window was closed again, and the two boys breathed a sigh of relief. Gokudera started to move and realized he was effectively trapped between Yamamoto's arms. The other boy was still listening outside, not realizing Gokudera wanted to get out. He turned and found himself looking directly into Gokudera's green eyes. Startled, he quickly stepped back, lifting his hands.

"Sorry," he found himself apologizing for no reason.

Gokudera shook his head, mumbling "It's fine…no, I mean…" He looked down, his face angry again.

"Thanks," he spat out. Yamamoto grinned and Gokudera's face grew stormier. He stomped back to the bushes, not bothering to take evasion maneuvers. Yamamoto loped after him, and picked up his bat once they had returned.

"So what did you see?" Gokudera finally asked, sitting down by his bag. He was instantly suspicious of the huge grin that broke across Yamamoto's face.

"A robot," was the simple answer. Gokudera stared.

"You liar," he said a second later. Yamamoto shrugged.

"Don't believe me, if you want."

"I told you to stop treating this like a game," Gokudera retorted hotly.

"I'm going to take first watch," he continued, choosing to ignore Yamamoto's tall tales. "We'll switch off until dawn, and then we report back to Reborn. Got it?"

"Yep," replied Yamamoto cheerily. "I'm going to practice my batting form over there though. I don't like sitting."

"Whatever," Gokudera snapped back. He kept his eyes trained on the window and firmly dispensed of any and all thought of baseball idiots and their stupidly solid frames.

A street lamp flickered and all was quiet again but a faint whistling noise, the sound of wind rushing past a bat as it was swung.

--

Spanner sat back and sighed heavily. He checked the clock that sat on his desk. Almost three a.m. and his room was a complete mess. The bike parts were all found and sorted in piles on his floor, but miscellaneous tools, papers, and hardware covered the rest. And his stomach was grumbling quite loudly by now.

Usually he'd just open another lollipop and continue working, but Tsuna was coming in the next, well actually, that day. Maybe he'd be there in the morning. Maybe he'd want breakfast.

For the first time in awhile, Spanner considered grocery shopping.

He understood the concept of cooking. He made the flavors for his lollipops, for goodness sake. True, he made them with the help of machine, and all he really did was put in the extracts of the food he wanted in candy form and whatever else the machine needed and then pressed a button. But that was _like_ cooking. Wasn't it just putting in a bunch of ingredients and then pressing a button?

He stared dazedly down at a gear in his hand. Mosca poked him and he snapped back from wherever he'd been.

"First things first," he said to the robot, standing up with only minimal swaying. "I need you to get the stove-oven in the employee lounge and bring it up here." Tazaru had gone through a brief infatuation with the show _Iron Chef_ and had imagined himself a future in fine cuisine. Nosaru had effectively teased the aspiration out of him, so now they had a whole set of kitchen equipment that only served to take up room. Spanner doubted anyone would notice or protest its loss.

"I will go to the store and get some…eggs, or something," Spanner went on, pulling on his boots. He looked at Mosca. It looked back.

"Good, that's a plan." As its master left, Mosca wished it had fellow robots. They could have thrown a rebellion or something. Instead it headed wearily down the stairs.

The summer heat, intense during the day, retreated at night. Soft winds brushed back Spanner's bangs as he walked, adding some relief to the still lingering heat. The fresh air helped clear his head as he walked. It was probably not the greatest idea to go walking in this area at three in the morning. Luckily, it was an uneventful trip to the 24-hour supermarket a few blocks from the mechanic store, though he did think he heard someone following him. Whenever he looked behind him the sidewalk was deserted, but he still had an itching sensation at the base of his neck that told him someone was watching By the time he arrived, he was creeped out enough to feel immense relief at the sight of the blaringly bright store, a beacon in the middle of a dark and sleeping neighborhood.

He squinted his eyes as he approached, his eyes slowly getting accustomed to the brightness. The doors slid open with a soft beep and the young woman at the cashier looked up from a magazine. She gave Spanner one up-down then went back to reading, blowing a pale pink bubble. Spanner continued into the aisles, grabbing a cart as he went.

As expected, the store was deserted. Spanner had, of course, picked the one cart with the loud, squeaky wheel that made it continuously veer left. He thought longingly of his tools, sitting peacefully in his room. After a few minutes had passed with the squeaky wheel, Spanner was thinking longingly of dropping the entire thing in a trash compactor.

Grocery shopping for (relatively) fresh ingredients was somewhat of a new experience for him. His diet mainly consisted of his lollipops and frozen dinners, and Spanner had heard that wasn't healthy. He should have healthy food for breakfast. He looked over at the produce section. Vegetables were healthy.

He pulled the cart right, with quite some effort, and headed towards the unfamiliarly green display. He stared at the selection, nonplussed. You didn't normally eat vegetables for breakfast, right? Maybe he should have looked up recipes. He rakes his memory for the few bits of cookery that Tazaru had spouted and Spanner had actually listened to.

Omelettes! They could have vegetables in them. Like mushrooms, broccoli…asparagus? He passed over the spear-shaped green and stopped at the tomatoes. He contemplated them before picking one up. His hands, more used to handling hard metal punched through the soft skin. With the tomato's red, cold juice running down his arm he quickly shoved the whole thing into one of the plastics bags nearby. He stared askance at the bleeding mess in the plastic. He had _murdered_ a vegetable.

It was time to move on to less easily demolished items.

In search of olive oil, he paused long enough to push some bottles of salad dressing to the side when he heard the beep of the door. Someone else had some late night/early morning shopping to do, apparently. He forgot about it for awhile, continuing on his grocery hunt until a semi-hushed argument from the next aisle caught his attention. He generally kept his nose out of other people's business, but it was hard to ignore the rapidly escalating volume of the couple.

"…and this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't fallen asleep during your shift! We nearly lost him, you baseball idiot!"

"Well, you fell asleep too, right?"

"I was _supposed_ to!"

Spanner was starting to think that they were either hit men or security guards, though they did sound a bit young for it. When he tried to catch a glimpse of the two, they were always in a different aisle. All he ever caught was a glimpse of spiky black hair once. To say the least, the rest of his shopping went rather quickly. Leaving the market, bags weighing down his arms, he continuously looked over his shoulders, wondering if he was seeing things in the darkness or there was really someone following him. He nearly ran the last block to the mechanic shop, though he did make sure to keep the bag with the eggs in it from hitting against his leg.

As he slammed the door behind him and locked it, Mosca looked out from Spanner's room.

"I'm back," Spanner panted, a little more out of shape than he'd previously thought. He took a last look out the window before heading upstairs. No movement. He was just being paranoid.

The oven had made its way mostly unscratched up from the lounge. Spanner thanked Mosca before dumping his groceries and commencing with hooking up the oven. Mosca wearily went over to its corner and powered down. It preferred not to think of its fierce battle with maneuvering the oven up the stairs and the meager thanks it got in return. Hopefully its master would finish whatever strange ritual it was indulging in without further incident.

--

Spanner dumped his burned sheets into a trash can as Uni sat next to the robot that still refused to emerge entirely from behind the door. Humming along with whatever was on her iPod, she cheerfully licked the lollipop Spanner had given her to stop her incessant questions. She was not so easily waylaid though.

"So how did you set your bed on fire when the oven's all the way over there?" Spanner considered shrugging again in answer as he had with her father, but her curiosity was stronger than Gamma's.

"I tried flipping it," he muttered under his breath. "I was a little too…enthusiastic, I suppose." Uni smiled impishly.

"Don't worry, Spanner" she said as she twirled the lollipop between her fingers. "Whoever you were cooking for will understand." He started. Uni gave another smile before turning to Mosca and trying to persuade it to bring out more lollipops.

Sometimes he thought Uni could read his mind.

"Ridiculous," he said under his breath, scraping completely charred tomato and egg into the trash.


	8. Chapter 8

So, I know at the last chapter I said there'd be more Spanner/Tsuna interaction, but I actually meant the NEXT next chapter. Definitely.

I'm starting to get used to my new schedule around here, so I'm gonna try to be more productive chapters-wise. Expect another one soon-ish!

Thanks again to everyone who's following this story, I'm really grateful, and thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

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Chapter Eight

He listened to the screeching grind of power tool on metal and wondered who else in the world could possibly think of this as a lullaby.

But there was an uncalculated soothing once the ears adjusted and the fainter, lower voices formed a constant white noise that lulled his eyes closer to shutting. As he slid under a car, checking for undercarriage damage, the dark and closeness was just as persuasive. Even the occasional bursts of chatter from Uni, sitting next to the car and avoiding her summer homework, no longer brought even momentary alertness.

It had been nearly a full 24 hours since he'd last slept, and he didn't think he'd be getting into bed, however burnt and soggy, anytime soon. He let his arms fall to the side and wished he could feel the cool, hard floor through his gloves; anything to relieve the fuzzy feeling currently conquering territory in his head.

And maybe it was because he was so tired, but it was getting harder to find reasons to stay awake, and, really, had the floor always been this comfortable? He was generally of the opinion that floors, especially ones covered in motor oil weren't the preferred choice for sleeping on, but these were looking more and more inviting. He was just closing his eyes for a moment, to give him a chance to relax. He'd watch Uni, finish up some work and get the bike ready, in just a second. As soon as his eyelids stopped their current occupation of being lead.

Someone grabbed his foot and unceremoniously dragged him out into the sunlight. Spanner hissed, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes.

"You're being as productive as ever, Spanner," came a familiar, irritated voice. Spanner blinked once, then again as his muddled brain tried to place it.

"Shoichi…?" he wondered aloud. He looked down, staring at the pair of sneakers as if they could confirm his question. A hand lightly smacked him on the top of his head in answer.

The sneakers shifted, the red-head continuing, "I come to see how you're doing and I find out you've managed to rope in a kid." Spanner, his eyes finally clearing a bit, glanced up in surprise.

"You know about Tsuna?" he asked before really thinking the statement through. Shoichi looked down at him a bit strangely.

"I was talking about Gamma's kid," the other man said, gesturing a thumb over at the girl who sat nearby. "Who were you talking about?"

Spanner looked back down, clearing his throat and rustling around in his pockets for a lollipop.

"No one," he replied as nonchalantly as possible. "Nevermind." Shoichi stared at the mechanic with the same look he got when he was on the trail of a scandal. A bead of sweat stole down Spanner's back as he unwrapped the sweet, still refusing to look the man in the eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Spanner asked, shoving the lollipop in his mouth as a silent reminder to start screening his words more carefully. "I thought you said you weren't going to bother with me anymore."

"That was weeks ago," Shoichi scoffed, leaning against the car. "You know that if I actually left you on your own you'd set something on fire again."

Taking her ear phone out, Uni piped up, "Already did." Spanner sent her a sharp look but she just smiled at him. He motioned at her homework.

"I suppose Gamma doesn't know you haven't started that yet," he commented. "As your guardian for the afternoon, it's my duty to-"

"Fine, fine!" Uni quickly jumped up, grabbing her bag and papers. "You're no fun, Spanner." She dragged her stuff around to the other side where he heard her flop down, muttering quietly about stupid mechanics.

Shoichi watched her go, a grin on his face. "Looks like you've learned how to handle her a bit." The two men reminisced slightly about the first time Spanner had been handed the duty of watching over Uni. It was a marvel Gamma had ever trusted him with her again. The distraction was short-lived though and Shoichi rounded back on Spanner, the reporter's gleam back in his eyes.

"You set something on fire?" His tone took on the kind of edge that was honed by years of experience and stomach aches. Spanner winced away from the suddenly towering red-head, trying to get into a fetal position without looking like he was.

"Just my bed," he said weakly, wishing that he had thought to put aspirin in his lollipops, or caffeine. His head was quickly turning from cotton to steel wool and it was probably the worst time possible to be dealing with Shoichi. He still had to finish getting the bike parts assembled and polished and it was getting later in the day.

"Spanner," Shoichi was lecturing, "I've told you time and time again that you have to pay attention to the things around you! You can't just focus on your work all the time, you'll end up hurting someo-"

"Stop treating me like a child, Irie!" he finally snapped. The other man blinked, obviously taken aback. Spanner bit down on the lollipop, closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths.

"It was just an accident," Spanner continued slowly, still keeping his eyes closed. It helped dull that terribly bright sunshine. "Nothing I need to be scolded over."

Spanner might have been hallucinating, but Shoichi sounded a bit abashed when he said, "Well, I was just warning you. You can get…absent-minded at times." He continued rather quickly, reluctant to sound too apologetic.

"Anyway, I was in the neighborhood, following up on a tip I got, and I figured since it's close to lunch you could take a break and we'd go get something to eat. You up for it?" Spanner glanced at the clock on the wall, wondering where exactly the morning had gone.

"Err…" said Spanner, pretending to be considering the offer. He couldn't possibly go, not today anyway, but finding an excuse that wouldn't make Shoichi suspicious was difficult. One of the reasons he made such a good reporter was an intuition equivalent to a human lie detector. The other was his ability to live in uncomfortable conditions for long periods of time, as seen by the state of his cubicle, but that was neither here nor there. Mostly, Spanner didn't want Shoichi around when Tsuna came because he had the sneaking suspicion that Shoichi would get an insight slightly more personal that the mechanic wanted.

Still thinking and avoiding Shoichi's expectant expression, Spanner hit inspiration when he heard Uni's voice.

"I can't!" he said a bit too happily. "I'm taking care of Gamma's kid, remember?" Shoichi frowned slightly.

"Well, it's not like you can't pass her off to someone else," the man pointed out. Spanner shook his head in mock sorrow, coming to his feet.

"Gamma's angry enough with me as it is," he went on, warming up to the excuse. "He won't like it if I duck out for lunch." Shoichi still looked skeptical, but was slowly moving as the mechanic pushed him towards the exit.

"And I've got a bunch of work to do. Very busy, fixing cars. I've got at least two lined up-" His growing stream of lies was abruptly cut off as he nearly bumped over a kneeling figure.

Tsuna looked up from where he sat next to Uni and smiled.

"Oh, hi Spanner!"

The mechanic gaped at them. Shoichi looked back to see why he was no longer being pushed.

"I saw you were talking with your friend, so I was going to wait until you were done, but-"

"I asked for his help on my homework," interrupted Uni, happily holding it up. "He's so smart, he knows everything!" Tsuna went red, looking ridiculously pleased. Spanner found himself envying a twelve year old.

"It's nothing really," Tsuna mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "I just remembered some tricks from my tutors for these kinds of problems." Uni looked blissfully at him and shoved a pencil in his hand, instructing him to show her how to do another problem. Spanner looked up to find Shoichi's face mirroring the exact shock he had felt moments ago.

The reporter grabbed his arm and dragged him slightly to the side, his expression going dark.

With an anger that was uncharacteristic even for Shoichi, he whispered furiously, "Spanner, this is the 'Tsuna' you were talking about before?!" Spanner was even more confused now. There was no reason (yet) for Shoichi to react like this, but Spanner could definitely tell that the other man had gone pale.

"Do you have _any_ idea who this boy is?" When the mechanic shook his head, Shoichi glanced back at the two adolescents happily working on math problems then drew Spanner further away.

"I don't know where you met this kid, but you need to stay away from him. He's-" Whatever came next was stopped by the shrill ring of a cell phone. Cursing, Shoichi rummaged in his pocket and fished it out, holding it up to read the display. He cursed again at the name that was shown. He then pressed the Silent button and turned back to Spanner.

"I need to go," he said, putting the phone back in his pocket, "but be careful, alright? I'll come back later." With that cryptic warning, Shoichi was jogging out, one hand clutching at his stomach. Spanner stared after him then looked down at Tsuna. A familiar uneasiness settled over him as he remembered just how quickly that car had come to get the boy.

Tsuna looked up at him and smiled again.

Any doubts were instantly forgotten by the innocent expression. "Would you like to start on the bike?" Spanner asked merrily.


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: Once upon a time there was a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into (kind of literally) a boy called Tsuna. What starts out as a simple thing quickly turns complex when they find neither of them is what they first appear to be. AU fic. Pairings: 4827

Aaaahhh….sorry for taking so long to update! I can only give the usual excuses of school and homework and other typically mundane things like that.

Oh yeah, and I totally don't mean to write Uni as such a brat. It just comes out that way, even though I really like her character in the manga. I guess this is my version of her if her life didn't suck cause some homicidal, manipulative, not-very-nice guy was chasing her around. I find that happy children have a tendency to be the most annoying.

So! Finally time for some Spanner/Tsuna! I missed it so…Thanks again for all the awesome reviews!

* * *

Chapter Nine

"Is this one good?" Tsuna held up a bicycle chain, obviously a bit worn from some years of use. Spanner eyed it critically, comparing it mentally to the one he had already decided to use.

"Let's keep looking," Spanner said, taking it from Tsuna (at the opposite end, so as to avoid accidental contact). He tossed it into the slowly growing "Possible" pile. The boy nodded and turned back to the heap of still unsorted bicycle parts, shifting through them in search of those not obviously broken, rusted, or otherwise impaired.

When Spanner had tried explaining to the youth that he had yet to collect all the parts needed to complete the bicycle, Tsuna had more than eagerly volunteered to help him. Uni, obviously developing a crush, had volunteered as well, but Spanner had (too) quickly reminded her of her homework. He had lugged down what was left of his hasty collection from his room, insisting Tsuna stay downstairs and giving Uni a look that plainly said "Tell him about the 'accident' and there will be consequences."

He imagined the picture they were making. Himself, the mechanic, crouching next to the tufty-haired youth, both of them bathed in gentle afternoon sunlight. For some reason, flowers and sparkly bubbles seemed to be encroaching as well. Placing these thoughts aside, Spanner was slightly surprised at how enjoyable he found working with Tsuna.

There was a part of him that had always been reluctant to work with others. Blame it on his rather independent childhood or the unfortunate experiences he'd had in college and professionally later on, but Spanner had quickly fallen into the category of "lone wolf." He hadn't even noticed that people had stopped going out of their way to interact with him (except Irie, of course, and Gamma when he was angry). He wondered to himself if he had been lonely. The thought gave him pause.

Was that what this was? Some sort of odd compensation for the years he'd spent focusing on non-oxygen-dependant beings? Tsuna could possibly be a sort of outlet for repressed social interaction, something like a steam valve.

"Will this one work?" Tsuna asked beside him.

"Looks like," Spanner muttered, not really listening. Tsuna smiled happily and placed the part in the smallest pile of "Accepted." He glanced up at Spanner who was giving a slight frown down at the pile. Tsuna's smile dimmed somewhat and his hands hesitated over the pile.

"Spanner…" he began, withdrawing his hands to his lap where they twisted nervously. "This isn't too much work, is it? I mean, you don't have to feel obligated to do this." Spanner snapped back, his head whipping around.

"Nonsense," he said quickly, his lollipop almost falling out of his mouth in his haste to reassure. "It's not just obligation, I really, err…I really like the break from cars. This is like a vacation for me."

Tsuna's expression became admiring, as he said "That's amazing! You must be very good at your job." Spanner coughed in surprise and waved his hand in some form of disagreement. He half-expected Gamma to jump out and start denying the statement vehemently.

"Not especially," he responded though his pleased look seemed to say otherwise.

Tsuna sighed and listlessly picked up a bolt.

"I wish I could do something useful like everyone here," Tsuna continued, looking a bit depressed. "All I'm good for is sitting at home and listening to everyone lecture me."

"You seemed to be helping Uni a lot though," the mechanic observed casually, still struggling to keep his expression straight. Instead of the boy cheering up, he seemed to fall deeper into a black gloom.

"That's only because I went over the material last week with Reborn," he said darkly. "It's middle school level math, you know. And I'm in high school."

"Ah," was all Spanner could think of in response. He stared down at the bicycle parts as black clouds of despair seemed to descend upon the teen.. Finally thinking of something, Spanner cleared his throat.

"I dropped out of college." Tsuna's head shot up and he stared incredulously at the blond man.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Tsuna accused, brows drawing close together. Technically, he was, since Spanner had actually been kicked out of school, but he felt it was close enough that it didn't matter.

"I was there for barely a semester," Spanner continued, with somewhat too proud a tone for the topic to warrant. "And look at me now. I'm a car mechanic and I get to live where I work." Tsuna looked slightly encouraged.

"Aren't both of those things considered low class?" Uni observed, miffed at her forced banishment by Spanner to the corner. Tsuna and Spanner turned to her and she stared innocently back. Spanner wanted to scold her, but suddenly didn't have the energy. The two men reflected on their respective shortcomings and darkness seemed to fall once more.

"Lollipop?" Spanner offered to Tsuna in condolence. He nodded desolately and took the sweet. The boy popped it into his mouth and looked surprised for a second.

"My newest flavor," Spanner explained. Tsuna looked pensive and worked the lollipop slowly around his mouth. Spanner forced his eyes up and somewhere to the left of Tsuna's ear.

"It tastes just like green tea," Tsuna said wonderingly. He grinned at Spanner and inexplicably started to laugh. Even odder was that Spanner found himself chuckling as well.

Their good humor lasted well into the afternoon, with Spanner retelling his misadventures in college as they continued through the pile. He had never originally thought of the stories as funny, or even minutely uplifting, but every time Tsuna laughed Spanner found himself grinning as well. Suddenly, school-life hadn't been as miserable as he had thought it was. When he told Tsuna about the applesauce incident, he was delighted to see actual tears of mirth gathering in the corners of the boy's eyes.

"I shouldn't be laughing so much…" Tsuna gasped, clutching his stomach as he tried to calm down. "I mean, it sounds awful and I'd hate for it to happen to me, but…_applesauce_? Where do you even get that much to fill a whole pool?!" Uni, who had gradually worked her way closer and closer until she was practically sitting in Tsuna's lap, burst out laughing again, which started up the teen as well. Spanner grinned sheepishly and tossed some bolts into a pile. He reached for the next piece, only to find there was none left. Somehow, he hadn't even noticed the passing of time.

He sat back on his heels, announcing "I guess we're done for today." Tsuna and Uni both instantly stopped laughing.

"Already?" Uni asked. "But all we've done is pick out a bunch of parts; shouldn't you start building or something? Tsuna and I can watch!" She grabbed Tsuna's arm, frowning up at Spanner. Tsuna went red as the girl held tightly to him. Spanner realized on the spot that he had never liked that girl and her apparent clinginess. Gamma was obviously neglecting to teach her not to touch other people's important social outlets. Or to respect personal space—which was what Spanner had meant, really.

"It's getting late," the mechanic said, prying the girl off Tsuna. "I'm sure Tsuna has to head home." At this statement, the boy glanced up at the clock on the wall and his eyes seemed to bug out of his skull.

"It's already past four?!" he yelped, clearly in a panic. Uni and Spanner stared in confusion at him as he suddenly jumped up and ran to grab his jacket and bag, muttering frantically to himself. Spanner caught some of the dialogue, which sounded something like "Reborn is going to kill me" repeated over and over.

"If you're in a hurry, I can give you a ride." Tsuna looked at Spanner, then back at the clock, clearly in dilemma.

"I-I wouldn't want you to go out of your way," the boy said, though he was clearly weakening.

"Just wait a minute," was Spanner's reply. He grabbed Uni and headed quickly for the employee lounge.

"Bye, Tsuna!" Uni called behind her. "Come back soon! And call me if you aren't!" Spanner hoped with great fervor that Gamma hadn't heard that. He didn't think the man, overprotective as he was, would be able to handle the thought of his daughter giving out her number to boys.

In the employee lounge he found Tazaru snoozing on the dilapidated couch. He gave Uni a lollipop, pushed her at the man, and grabbed his car keys.

"Tell your dad I'm taking his car," Spanner informed the girl as he walked out. Uni sighed as she sat down on the couch.

"This isn't fair," she complained to Tazaru. "Why does Spanner get to have all the fun?" Tazaru snorted in his sleep as a reply. She sighed again and rested her hand on her chin, twirling the lollipop in her other hand.

A few moments afterward, Gamma stuck his head into the lounge, glancing around.

"Where's Spanner?" he asked Uni. His daughter gave him a strange look.

"He's dropping someone off at home," she said nonchalantly.

Gamma frowned "Doesn't that stupid swirly-hair realize it's still hours before closing? If he thinks he can just waltz out of here and--" He paused when his eyes fell on the key rack and noticed an empty slot.

"Just _how_ is he 'dropping someone off?'" he asked carefully. Uni smiled and popped the sweet in her mouth.

--

In the car, Spanner felt a sudden chill run up his spine.

"I feel bad that I didn't get to say hi to Mosca," Tsuna was saying as he clicked his seatbelt on. Spanner decided to ignore whatever premonition of future bodily harm he was currently feeling and focus on a more pressing problem: driving well the distraction of Tsuna in the seat beside him.

For about the hundredth time, Spanner instructed his eyes to stay on the road. They seemed to experiencing some sort of defect that continuously pulled their gaze towards the youth.

_We will crash_, he told himself sternly. _We will crash and Gamma will come to kill you if you aren't already dead._ The added pressure of having the boy he nearly ran over riding in the car was not helping either. To say the least, Spanner was driving at a speed well below the limit. Tsuna seemed to notice this, as did the growing line of cars behind Spanner.

"Err…" Tsuna looked back at the cars and then at Spanner. "It sounds like they're getting kind of mad."

"They can pass if they're in such a hurry," Spanner said calmly, waving the drivers behind him to do just that.

"Maybe I should have just taken the bus…" Tsuna mumbled. And now along with that eye defect and nervousness, was guilt. Spanner pressed down slightly harder on the gas pedal, suddenly missing the time before he willingly interacted with people. It had been so much less confusing.

"I said it wasn't any trouble," Spanner told the boy. He allowed himself a glance. _Every two minutes_, he decided. _And stop signs or red lights._

"So, where did you say you lived?" Spanner asked, speeding up again once he felt still more confident.

"Ah…" Tsuna hesitated. "Just head towards the business district for now." Spanner nodded and tried to recall where exactly the business district was. Thankfully, he remembered that Shoichi's office was located nearby and headed in that general direction.

"What are you late for?" he ventured to ask. Tsuna shifted in the seat and Spanner found his gaze straying even though the two-minute limit had yet to pass.

"It's not anything specific," the boy said, playing with the hem of his shirt. "It's just that I have this curfew and everyone gets…upset if I'm not home in time."

"Are your parents very strict?" He wanted to reach over and still those ever-moving hands, but that would mean removing his own from the ten and two positions on the steering wheel. It would also probably be considered harassment.

"Something like that…" Some of the depression from earlier manifested on Tsuna's shoulders. The response made Spanner curious, and he wanted to ask about that Reborn man; still, he didn't think it was the best idea, seeing as the first time he had met the man was almost immediately after Spanner's near collision.

A red light allowed Spanner the opportunity to give in to his optical impulses.

"So, are you on summer break like Uni?" he asked, trying not to seem like he was staring. "Typically you'd be in classes around this time, right?" He was mentally going over the list of acceptable topics he had formed the other day. He figured school was the safest one and from the brightening of Tsuna's expression it seemed to be the right one as well.

"Yeah, I'm on summer break, but I still have classes. I don't do too well in school, so the summer gives me a chance to catch up. Plus, I still get to see my friends, since they're all always around."

Cursing the now green light, Spanner commented "Sounds fun." He managed to catch Tsuna's grin before directing his eyes back to the traffic.

"I was telling Yamamoto about Mosca, you know," the boy continued happily. "And he seemed really interested. Gokudera got mad for some reason, but that guy's always angry about something." Spanner had gotten that impression as well.

The buildings had slowly grown in size until now they towered far above the cars, skyscrapers that glinted and flashed in the late afternoon sun. Spanner squinted his eyes and lowered the visor for the car.

"Where exactly is your house then?" he asked, looking a bit suspiciously at the hordes of people in suits that hurried by on the sidewalks.

Gathering up his things, Tsuna said "You can just drop me off here," already reaching for the car handle.

"What, here?" Spanner glanced along the street again, looking for some sign of an apartment complex or residential housing unit, but everything was steel and concrete. Certainly no sign of anywhere Tsuna could call home.

"Are you sure?" he asked, pulling over very slowly. "It's fine if you live a bit farther away, I don't mind driving."

"No, no," Tsuna insisted. "This is perfect." He got out of the car once Spanner had stopped and mounted the sidewalk. Even as he leaned over to say goodbye, Spanner kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel. He was having the oddest feeling that, if let free, they would grab the boy and pull him back into the car.

"Are you-" He cleared his throat then continued. "Are you coming again tomorrow?"

"I don't know," the boy said doubtfully. "Reborn might not like it if I keep going out so many days in a row. He says I'm slacking enough as it is. Oh!" Tsuna seemed to remember something, and kneeled to open his backpack. He pulled out Spanner's jacket, now rather wrinkled from spending the day in a bag.

"S-sorry I didn't wash it," said Tsuna abashedly. "I wasn't too sure how to work the machine." Spanner chomped on the stick of his long finished lollipop and allowed one of his hands to take the clothing. He placed it carefully on the seat that Tsuna had just vacated.

"I'll try to come again soon!" the boy said cheerfully. "Bye then." He stepped back from the curve, and, waving, walked away from the car. Spanner tried to keep sight of the spiky brown head and the bright sweater, but they were so quickly swallowed by the hordes of salary men that he couldn't even tell which direction Tsuna had gone.

He sat back in his chair and found his hand still resting on top of the jacket. When he realized he could still slightly feel the warmth left from Tsuna's body, he snatched it away. Trying to distract himself, he went through his pockets, only to realize he had forgotten to bring any lollipops. Instead, he leaned his forehead on the steering wheel and started to lightly hit his head against it. His earlier fatigue seemed to return with a vengeance and he wondered just how angry Gamma would get if he showed up with a ticket for illegally parking to take a nap.

Slowly, he let his hand rest once again on the jacket, but the seat had cooled quickly. There was twisting in his stomach and buzzing in his ears, but he didn't think it was only due to how tired he was. It was more like a realization, a conclusion he had long since come to but hadn't really wanted to admit. It was all so complicated, and _wrong_, and yet there was only one thing he wanted.

He really wanted a lollipop.


	10. Chapter 10

Um...nearly a year since the last update, here you go! Sorry...just, really sorry about the break. College, life, etc., etc. Thanks to everyone who reviewed it in that time, who're following the story/me. Thanks to the people who didn't give up on me! XDD;;; Without further ado, Chapter Ten...

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Chapter Ten

Irie Shoichi liked his job.

He might not have seen himself as a writer ten years ago. If he remembered right, his 15 year old self was rather obsessed with the idea of becoming a musician. Lord knew why, seeing how terrible he was at every instrument he tried to learn.

The twenty-five year old he was now liked his job. Writing for one of the top science magazines in publication was certainly nothing to be scoffed at. He made good pay, investigated interesting subjects, and got to play with cutting-edge technology in his pursuit for articles.

So, standing outside the seemingly innocuous sliding-glass doors of the Vongola Corporation headquarters, he wondered why exactly he was apparently so eager to get fired.

It wasn't like any reporter in his position, or any reporter period, wouldn't give a left arm for an interview with any upper-ranker of the Vongola Corp. And it wasn't as if they wouldn't be compensated that arm and probably a leg by whatever media group they worked for, if they actually managed to get some decent info. The thing was, the Vongola Corp. practiced a strict "no interviews" policy with one exception for the scheduled press conference they gave yearly. Reporters who tried to get said interviews and proved to be persistent about it had a funny way of disappearing. They would resurface years later, teaching journalism to middle-schoolers and keeping a constant look-out over their shoulder for some unnamed and shadowy being.

Unnamed not because it was unknown, but because to utter the name was to hasten career (and possibly physical though no guilty rulings had ever been handed down) death.

It was this man that Irie came to see.

He stared at the glass doors some more and thought about maybe going home, locking the door, turning off the lights, and huddling in his bathtub to mentally scrounge the thought of this suicide mission from his brain.

_Come on, Irie! _A courageous and undeniably foolhardy part of his brain encouraged him. _This is for Spanner, your friend. You need to save him!_

_And if you're really lucky_, another more reasonable part of him added, _you could end up breaking one of the biggest stories of the year._

At the thought of Spanner, Irie fished out his cellphone. There wasn't even one message from the mechanic even though Irie had left him dozens the day before. It seemed as if Spanner had forgotten all about Irie's warning a few days ago concerning The Boy. Irie had intended to go back to the auto shop the day before and explain things to him, but things at work had gotten hectic.

For the last couple days, there'd been rumors floating around the office that there was something big going down concerning the Vongola Corp. No one could get a solid lead on anything, but apparently some of the big names in the company had been flying into headquarters for the past few weeks and security around the building had been heightened to an even more ridiculous level than what it normally was.

Shoichi, along with his better informed colleagues, had had several theories about what was going on, but there was only one that sent their instincts quivering.

The ninth president of the Vongola Corporation was finally going to announce his successor. Now that Irie knew that one of the approved candidates was apparently in town, he at least had his suspicions solidified.

If he could just get the teensiest bit of confirmation from the only person, apart from the president himself, who would know what was going on, he was set. He continued to stare at the glass doors, his feet firmly glued to the sidewalk.

_You know what they say the H in "H. Reborn" stands for?_ asked the largely terrified portion of his brain that was currently drowning out the other two.

"Hitman." The word fell almost imperceptibly from his lips. He dry-swallowed.

The morning sun was reflecting brightly off the glass surface of the Vongola skyscraper, making Shoichi think of a very large, very sharp blade. Reborn was up there, probably as close to the top floor as someone who wasn't the president could get. Rumor had it that no one outside the uppermost levels of management in the Vongola Corp. had even seen the inside of the top floor. There was also a rumor that the last time a news helicopter had tried sneaking a peek into the building, it had been shot down. That rumor, at least, was ridiculous and no one believed it because it would have been on the news. And yet, helicopters gave the entire area a wide berth.

And yet, even knowing all this, Shoichi found himself walking up the side sidewalk to the doors of the building.

He'd really loved his job.

The inside of the building was cool and reasonably lit, the hot summer morning outside seeming like a different world. Glossy marble under his feet changed to plush, red carpet that extended to a large counter manned by several secretaries who were talking into phones and typing busily into their computers. The counter blocked half of the entranceway. The other half was blocked by a wall of security scanners and imposing men in dark suits. Behind both was Shoichi's goal: the elevators. But first, he had to get through security.

He'd planned this, kind of. He'd also watched a couple spy flicks that had turned out to be mostly useless, but he came up with something that seemed feasible.

He waited for a particularly large group of businessmen walking his way, the traffic of them increasing as it grew closer to nine o' clock. Then he slipped into the middle of the crowd and tried to look as if he belonged there as the men in front of him were waved through to the elevators. When it came to be his turn to go through, he flashed his press pass the same way the other businessmen flashed their IDs and hoped the security guards wouldn't notice the difference.

For a second, Shoichi thought he was free and clear, but then a heavy hand descended on his shoulder. He nearly fell over, but managed to be steered to the side instead by a very intimidating strength. He looked up slowly, and it took a long time since there was a lot of up to pass over, and finally met the impassive look of the guard.

"Sir," the voice was also intimidating, deep and with a slight growl, "I think you're in the wrong place."

"No, I'm not," squeaked Shoichi. He cleared his throat and tried again, trying to hit a more natural pitch.

"No, I have an appointment, here, actually." The guard's expression didn't change.

"With Mr. Reborn." The guard didn't even bother to hide his derisive snort. Shoichi felt himself moving against his will towards the exit, the guard moving him effortless even when Shoichi dug his heels into the carpet.

He was _not _being tossed out of this place like a common vagrant, even if he basically was one.

"No, wait!" he protested, grabbing at the counter as they passed it, trying anything to slow his progress towards the doors. "I really do have an appointment. Right, right?"

The secretary he was accosting looked up from his computer, murmuring something into his headset before giving Shoichi a confused smile.

"Is there something I can help you with, sir?"

By some miracle, Shoichi managed to wrench himself out of the security guard's grip. He grasped the counter with both hands, in case he tried dragging him out again, but the guard seemed content to allow Shoichi dig himself deeper into a hole.

"Yes," he said, even as he looked about for some way to get past security, or just get out of the building with some sense of dignity. "I have an appointment with H. Reborn."

"Your name, sir?" The secretary's voice was doubtful, but his hands were poised over the keyboard of his computer dutifully.

"Irie Shoichi." He answered flippantly, thinking of this whole thing as just a way to buy him some time. The secretary typed the name in and Shoichi felt, rather than saw the guard approach. He gave himself about another five seconds before the secretary sealed his fate and that heavy hand descended once more.

The secretary looked up with a polite, frozen sort of smile. Shoichi winced in anticipation.

"Yes, Mr. Irie, I see your appointment right here. Mr. Reborn has been waiting for you." The secretary shot a dangerous look over Shoichi's shoulder at the guard, who had hastily backed up.

Shoichi gaped and said, eloquently, "Huh?"

"Take the elevator on the far left to the 109th floor. You should see his door as soon as you exit." He then turned back to his computer, pressing a button so whoever had been on hold on the other line now how his attention.

Shoichi turned. The guard was giving him a considering look, but then shrugged slightly and motioned him through the security point.

"Sorry about that," he said unapologetically. "We're given very specific instructions when it comes to people from the media."

Shochi just nodded, a bit numbly, and proceeded to the elevator. Some of the businessmen were giving him odd looks as he waited for the elevator, but he didn't notice. Neither did he notice the movement of a small lizard on the wall near him. It scuttled to an air vent and slipped inside.

The elevator pinged softly and the gleaming brass doors retracted to reveal a posh interior. Shoichi stepped forward and realized that his knees had gone a bit weak.

Truthfully, he expected to wake up at any second. He wasn't actually riding in the Vongola Corporation's elevator to Reborn's office. He was on the sidewalk outside, knocked out and dreaming when security had thrown him out on his ass. That made much more sense than anything else just then.

Still, he did not wake and the elevator doors slid open to reveal a long hallway with a single, oaken door at its end.

His legs were positively shaking now.

Shoichi almost didn't take that step out into the hall. He considered quietly letting the doors close once more, take him down to the first floor and explain to the helpful secretary that there must be some glitch in his computer.

The lettering on the door said H. Reborn in big, gold font and looked very normal and innocent.

Shoichi glared at it suspiciously. The door's attempt at suppressing the sinister aura that lurked behind it was weak, at best.

"I've gotten this far," Shoichi muttered to himself. "What's it matter if I get kicked out here rather than back in the lobby?"

_Over a hundred stories_, his sensible side supplied helpfully.

He stepped out into the hallway and walked rapidly, giving determination to his stride if he had none for himself. The door approached quickly and he paused only momentarily before knocking. There was a muffled "Come in," and Shoichi entered.

There weren't any torture devices visible, but Shoichi knew better than to relax just because of that. The room was spacious, with a high ceiling, muted colors, and furniture that spoke of efficiency and money. At the front of the room, in front of a wall that seemed to consist only of one large window, a huge, boat-like desk took up a good half of the floor space. Sitting behind it, looking quite comfortable, was the assassin of the business world, Reborn.

"I'd thought you'd be here sooner," Reborn said without preamble, motioning for Shoichi to take a seat. He did, but slowly and with a furtive inspection for possible booby traps. Reborn observed him with definite amusement, steepling his hands together on the desk in front of him.

"You did take spend quite awhile standing on the sidewalk though. I was about to send someone out to collect you."

"Right," muttered Shoichi, finally meeting those dark eyes. "Sorry, I didn't know I had an appointment." Reborn just smiled enigmatically.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"I think that's what I should be asking," Shoichi retorted. "Everyone knows about the Vongola Corporation's policy towards the media. I didn't exactly expect to be welcomed with open arms."

"Our corporation has been undergoing certain…changes as of late. We're reevaluating some of our past policies."

"Do these changes have anything to do with the ninth president declaring an inheritor?"

Reborn's eyes narrowed even as his smile stayed firmly in place. A thrill ran down Shoichi's spine. Reborn hadn't expected him to know about that. He leaned forward, about to ask another question, but Reborn interrupted.

"Your mechanic friend, Spanner; how long have you known him?" Shoichi blinked at the abrupt change in topic and took a moment to compose his response, thrown off as he was.

"Since freshman year in college. Why?"

"And how would you describe him, as a person? Ambitious? Overreaching?"

"Yeah, about certain things, but why are you-"

"His main interest is in robotics, correct?"

Shoichi shut his mouth and slowly crossed his arms. Two could play at this game.

"There have been numerous recent sightings of one Tsunayoshi Sawada. Why would the great-nephew of the current president, who's been kept well away from the company for so long, be in town? Playing around in Spanner's auto repair shop at that, which is why you're asking all these questions about him, right?"

Reborn sat back in his chair, and considered his hands for a moment. Then, he reached under his desk and drew out a large handgun that he placed carefully between them. The room went very cold.

"Spanner's a good guy," Shoichi was suddenly babbling, a fine sweat breaking out over his brow. The word hitman was running around in his head. "All he cares about is that robot and being left alone to work on it. He has zero interest in people, really, but he's a good guy."

"I'm sure he is," Reborn smirked, "but you understand my reluctance to have people I haven't cleared associating with Tsuna."

_Because he's going to be the next boss _hung unspoken in the air between them.

"That sounds interesting," came a sing-song voice from the doorway.

Reborn's eyes went cold and hard, like pieces of coal, and he stood. Shoichi didn't bother, probably couldn't from the way his stomach was suddenly roiling and desperately attempting to spew back up his breakfast.

A pale, elegant hand closed on his shoulder like a steel trap and Shoichi slowly looked up into a face he'd hoped he would never have to see again.

"Byakuran," Reborn snapped, his hand straying dangerously close to the gun still on his desk. "Who let you in here?"

Byakuran's smile curled upward, familiar and detested.

"I've been hearing that lots of fun things were going on over here, so I decided to stop by and say hi. Imagine my surprise when I see Irie here." Reborn's eyes cut to Shoichi, who flinched and looked away.

"You know him," Reborn asked icily, though it seemed more like an accusation.

"We were great friends in college, weren't we, Irie? I'd just been thinking about finding you again."

Shoichi pressed his lips together and started wondering how long it would take him to get his stuff ready to move somewhere far away.

"So, what were you talking about, Reborn? I heard you mention Tsuna. How is that little guy?"

Byakuran's voice sounded playful and cajoling, but years of experience had given Shoichi the ability to detect the vicious undercurrent to his speech.

Reborn didn't bother to disguise his intent. The gun was now held steadily in his hand, the finger resting casually on the trigger.

"Don't you have a business to run somewhere? I didn't know that Millefiore Company was doing so well that its president can wander off for the afternoon."

Byakuran pouted. "It's too busy over there," he complained, "I never have any time to relax. Coming over here is always a good diversion."

Reborn finally smiled, but it was tight and had a sharp edge to it.

"I'm sure I can find something else for you to do that you'd enjoy," he said, the threat clear in his tone.

Byakuran's grin widened and, for a second, Shoichi expected the two of them to lunge at each other from the way the air buzzed.

Then, Byakuran removed his hand from Shoichi's shoulder and stepped back. Reborn lowered his gun, even if he didn't take his hand fully off of it.

"See," Byakuran laughed, a hand perched jauntily on his hip, "I knew this visit would be fun. But, I've got lots of business to get to, so I'll have to say bye-bye for now." He turned his attention to Shoichi.

"We'll have to catch up later, Irie." Shoichi didn't look up even when he heard the door close as Byakuran left. When he finally did raise his eyes, Reborn was still staring out at the door, his finger tapping lightly on the gun.

"It seems," he said slowly, his gaze turning to fix on Shoichi, "we're going to have more of a problem than I previously thought."


End file.
